I enjoy taking “in progress” photographs of my art as I’m making it, and sometimes I’m very good about stopping for a few minutes to take a quick photo. At other times I get completely engrossed in the art and neglect the documentation.
I’m learning that, like with most things, there’s an art to capturing a comprehensive view of art work in progress.
In my last post I shared the outline drawing I had started and planned to paint in.
As you can see, the painting is now finished. I had fully intended to take in progress photos but didn’t get around to it until the painting was finished. Oh well.
I started another painting immediately after finishing the last one, and before I had a chance to photograph the outline, I already started painting it in. Oh well again.
My intention is to photograph this at a few more stages before the final, but we’ll see what happens.
I realize that I have to be focused on my goal before I start painting. If I’m going to stop at intervals to take photos, I really should have my camera out and a photo area cleaned up and ready before I sit down to paint. Otherwise the effort of doing so while I’m already painting usually feels like too much of a bother. I’ll try this out to see if it will yield more step by step photographs. Wish me luck!
Another thing I realized while painting the pinks and reds, is that I think I’m trying to use watercolor more like gouache. I really laid it on thick, trying to get bright, vibrant hues, and I know that traditionally watercolor is intended to soak into the paper more. Maybe I just still have a lot to learn, or maybe I should stop painting on bristol, but I don’t necessarily mind the way I’ve painting. I like the texture of the thicker paint, but I wonder if there’s a more economical way to achieve similar results.
I haven’t used acrylics in a while, and even when I did it was for color studies in college, so maybe I should unearth them, try them out again, and see if they will fit the bill.
You could try a medium like aqua pasto or the modeling paste from Schmincke: http://www.dickblick.com/products/schmincke-aqua-pasto-medium/
http://www.dickblick.com/products/schmincke-aqua-modeling-pastes/
or W&N’s Aquapasto: http://www.winsornewton.com/products/oils-solvents-mediums-varnishes/water-colour-mediums/aquapasto/
Their texture medium might be an option too: http://www.dickblick.com/products/winsor-and-newton-texture-medium
I think they will give you more of the effect you are looking for if you want to add more body to your watercolours. 🙂
very cool, thanks for the links. i hadn’t heard of Aquapasto, texture medium or modeling paste. I knew about acrylic mediums, but hadn’t considered that there would be options for watercolors!
I forgot to add the link for W&N Aquapasto if you are looking for a place to purchase it. Cheap Joe’s sells it: http://www.cheapjoes.com/prod/3020901/
You need to have the camera set up above your workspace so you can take pictures every 30 seconds…
i wonder if there’s an automatic setting for that… might be fun to try out!
these are fantastic! i am so influenced by your past color studies, and love your organic shapes
thanks! color is one of my favorite things to explore, and I really enjoy seeing how you use color to complete your line drawings.
I love your designs! The pink one especially has such wonderful lines and shapes!
thanks so much! i like the pink one too–the colors are really working out well for that one.